Cal 33-2 Prop Strut

I'm a new member of the group and own a 1989 33-2 (shoal draft) on Connecticut's Long Island Sound. I read several discussion threads concerning prop strut issues. Can anyone tell me how the strut on a 33-2 is attached and if bolted rather than bonded, how I can get at those bolts? This past fall I noticed a rust stain at the base of the strut and assume it's bolt corrosion. Inside there is a big mound of fiberglass (?) with a bonding wire exiting. I assume this covers the strut attachment. Is it solid glass or just a thin cover? What's the agony factor in attacking this? BillFoxy

Hello Bill,Welcome to the list! I dont have all the answers your asking and would like to know myself if its bolted in under the glass. As it appears theres a big hump of glass inside just above where the struts located under the aft berth on the right. Anyone thats good with glass work could grind that out and work on it. Absolute alignment could prob be maintained with some clamps outside on the shaft while cutting out the old strut and installing a new one. I dont have to do this yet but might in coming years. Matthew86 cal 33.2Warm Winds From: "william march wj… [at] yahoo.com [Cal_Boats]" <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> To: "ca… [at] yahoogroups.com" <ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> Sent: Wednesday, April 5, 2017 12:21 PM Subject: [Cal_Boats] Cal 33-2 Prop Strut I'm a new member of the group and own a 1989 33-2 (shoal draft) on Connecticut's Long Island Sound. I read several discussion threads concerning prop strut issues. Can anyone tell me how the strut on a 33-2 is attached and if bolted rather than bonded, how I can get at those bolts? This past fall I noticed a rust stain at the base of the strut and assume it's bolt corrosion. Inside there is a big mound of fiberglass (?) with a bonding wire exiting. I assume this covers the strut attachment. Is it solid glass or just a thin cover? What's the agony factor in attacking this? BillFoxy

All the pictures I have seen of struts show the plate on the strut assembly that mounts to the boat bottom having bolt holes. I figure that there are bolts protruding up from below and nuts with washers are screwed onto these bolts. I would expect repair or replacement means removing the fiberglass to gain access to the nuts on top and on the bottom gaining access to the strut assembly. I wouldn't bother attacking anything if the strut is tight. Maybe look into sealing around it some or something along those lines. My approach now a days is if it ain't broke, don't fix it (as an old mechanic told me once when I was 17 and had screwed up something on my old VM bug trying to just see if it needed preventative maintenance). I am sort of expecting the strut was installed with the intent that it never would be bothered with again. Cal probably wasn't thinking 30 years down the road. I may be wrong. But anything can be repaired with the right tools, materials and skill. Leslie Puffin 1986 Cal 33 On Thu, Apr 6, 2017 at 10:47 PM, matthew ma… [at] yahoo.com [Cal_Boats] < Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> wrote: > > > Hello Bill, > Welcome to the list! I dont have all the answers your asking and would > like to know myself if its bolted in under the glass. As it appears theres > a big hump of glass inside just above where the struts located under the > aft berth on the right. Anyone thats good with glass work could grind that > out and work on it. Absolute alignment could prob be maintained with some > clamps outside on the shaft while cutting out the old strut and installing > a new one. I dont have to do this yet but might in coming years. > > Matthew > 86 cal 33.2 > Warm Winds > > > ------------------------------ > *From:* "william march wj… [at] yahoo.com [Cal_Boats]" < > Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> > *To:* "ca… [at] yahoogroups.com" <ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> > *Sent:* Wednesday, April 5, 2017 12:21 PM > *Subject:* [Cal_Boats] Cal 33-2 Prop Strut > > > I'm a new member of the group and own a 1989 33-2 (shoal draft) on > Connecticut's Long Island Sound. I read several discussion threads > concerning prop strut issues. Can anyone tell me how the strut on a 33-2 is > attached and if bolted rather than bonded, how I can get at those bolts? > This past fall I noticed a rust stain at the base of the strut and assume > it's bolt corrosion. Inside there is a big mound of fiberglass (?) with a > bonding wire exiting. I assume this covers the strut attachment. Is it > solid glass or just a thin cover? What's the agony factor in attacking > this? > > Bill > *Foxy* > > > >

When my strut showed it’s problems here were the “symptoms.” I first heard a thumping sound in the quarter berth when under power and even sometimes when under sail. Lifting the plywood floor showed a small leak around the bonding wire to the strut indicating that the strut was flexing enough to allow water to slowly enter the boat. As a bottom job was imminent, we decided to haul the boat and investigate. The metal of the strut was in good condition. The fiberglass on the exterior of the hull around the strut was visibly cracked and you could move the strut about 1/4” by hand giving the reason for the thumping noise. The yard recommended, and I decided, to attack the problem from the hull side only leaving the interior floor intact. They braced the strut in perfect alignment with the shaft by epoxying temporary braces to the hull and the area of the strut near the shaft. They then ground all of the exterior glass away from the strut and built up over twenty layers of glass and resin around the strut next to the hull. Unfortunately, I was not present when the strut base was exposed, so I do not know if there were bolts or not. I suspect there were and that the bonding wire was connected to one of those bolts. The strut has never moved or leaked again since this repair, and thanks to the bonding wire being cut, the strut did not suffer electrolysis as my through hulls did in Alameda, CA years later. There was always a zinc attached to the side of the strut and two on the shaft. Unable to take direct pictures until our next haul out. Don Dutton 1986 Cal 33-2, “Quantum Evolution” > On Apr 7, 2017, at 11:22 AM, NEWMAN d2… [at] gmail.com [Cal_Boats] <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> wrote: > > > All the pictures I have seen of struts show the plate on the strut assembly that mounts to the boat bottom having bolt holes. I figure that there are bolts protruding up from below and nuts with washers are screwed onto these bolts. I would expect repair or replacement means removing the fiberglass to gain access to the nuts on top and on the bottom gaining access to the strut assembly. I wouldn't bother attacking anything if the strut is tight. Maybe look into sealing around it some or something along those lines. My approach now a days is if it ain't broke, don't fix it (as an old mechanic told me once when I was 17 and had screwed up something on my old VM bug trying to just see if it needed preventative maintenance). > > I am sort of expecting the strut was installed with the intent that it never would be bothered with again. Cal probably wasn't thinking 30 years down the road. I may be wrong. But anything can be repaired with the right tools, materials and skill. > > Leslie > Puffin 1986 Cal 33 > > On Thu, Apr 6, 2017 at 10:47 PM, matthew ma… [at] yahoo.com <mailto:ma… [at] yahoo.com> [Cal_Boats] <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com <mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com>> wrote: > > > Hello Bill, > Welcome to the list! I dont have all the answers your asking and would like to know myself if its bolted in under the glass. As it appears theres a big hump of glass inside just above where the struts located under the aft berth on the right. Anyone thats good with glass work could grind that out and work on it. Absolute alignment could prob be maintained with some clamps outside on the shaft while cutting out the old strut and installing a new one. I dont have to do this yet but might in coming years. > > Matthew > 86 cal 33.2 > Warm Winds > > > From: "william march wj… [at] yahoo.com <mailto:wj… [at] yahoo.com> [Cal_Boats]" <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com <mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com>> > To: "ca… [at] yahoogroups.com <mailto:ca… [at] yahoogroups.com>" <ca… [at] yahoogroups.com <mailto:ca… [at] yahoogroups.com>> > Sent: Wednesday, April 5, 2017 12:21 PM > Subject: [Cal_Boats] Cal 33-2 Prop Strut > > > I'm a new member of the group and own a 1989 33-2 (shoal draft) on Connecticut's Long Island Sound. I read several discussion threads concerning prop strut issues. Can anyone tell me how the strut on a 33-2 is attached and if bolted rather than bonded, how I can get at those bolts? This past fall I noticed a rust stain at the base of the strut and assume it's bolt corrosion. Inside there is a big mound of fiberglass (?) with a bonding wire exiting. I assume this covers the strut attachment. Is it solid glass or just a thin cover? What's the agony factor in attacking this? > > Bill > Foxy > > > > > >